Dear Friends,

Does anyone have an idea of what the word mu.n.da means in the following passage from

the commentary on the Ratanasutta of the SuttaNipaata (p.172):

seyyathida.m ra~n~no cakkavattissacakkaratana.m uppajjatiindaniilama.nimayanaabhi

sattaratanamayasahassaara.m pavaa.lamayanemi, rattasuva.n.namayasandhi, yassadasanna.m

dasanna.m araana.m uparieka.m mu.n.daara.m hotivaata.m gahetvaa saddakara.nattha.m,

yenakatosaddosukusalappataa.litapa~nca"ngikatuuriyasaddoviyahoti

(The Tathaagata is being compared to a jewel of the highest value, which of course, he is superior to)

I tentatively translate as:

namely the jewel
(treasure) of the wheel of a universal (wheel-turning) monarch arises, the
navel of which is made of sapphires, a thousand spokes are made of the seven
jewels, the rim of the wheel is made of coral, the link [axle?] is made of
burnished gold, the appearance of the wheel above the spokes is one muṇḍa spoke (mu.n.da-ara.m),
with (gahetvā) the wind producing a sound, like the sound made by the five kinds of
musical instruments,  well-played and highly skilled.


Questions: why is dassanam repeated twice - meaning seeing over and over again?
What does yassa refer to? the king or the wheel?
What does the word mu.n.da mean? Typically it would mean "bare" (i. e. shaven or bald) but that doesn't seem to fit the context.

Any suggestions would be appreciated,

Metta,

Bryan

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